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Making a Garden gf 
Small Fruits 



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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



MAKING A GARDEN 
OF SMALL FRUITS 



THE 

HOUSE # GARDEN 

MAKING 



BOOKS 



IT is the intention of the publishers to make this 
series of little volumes, of which Making a 
Garden of Small Fruits is one, a complete library 
of authoritative and well illustrated handbooks 
dealing with the activities of the home-maker and 
amateur gardener. Text, pictures and diagrams- 
will, in each respective book, aim to make perfectly- 
clear the possibility of having, and the means of 
having, some of the more important features of a 
modern country or suburban home. Among the 
titles already issued are the following: Making a 
Rose Garden; Making a Lawn; Making a Tennis 
Court; Making a Water Garden; Making Paths 
and Driveways; Making a Poultry House; Making 
a Garden with Hotbed and Coldframe; Making 
Built-in Furniture; Making a Rock Garden; Mak- 
ing a Garden to Bloom This Year; Making a Gar- 
den of Perennials; Making the Grounds Attractive 
with Shrubbery; Making a Bulb Garden; Making 
a Garage; Making and Furnishing Outdoor Rooms 
and Porches: with others to be announced later. 




Blackberries and other cane fruits when 
blooming in the spring are as beautiful as 
any of the hardy decorative shrubs 



MAKING A GARDEN 
OF SMALL FRUITS 



F. F. ROCKWELL 

Author of "Home Vegetable Gardening," 

"Gardening Indoors and Under 

Glass," Etc. 




NEW YORK 

McBRIDE, NAST & COMPANY 
1914 



Copyright, 1914, by 
McBRIDE, NAST & CO. 



"ft 65 



Published, February, 1914 

MAR 14 1914 



t 



CI.A369312 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Planning the Fruit Garden . . 1 

Planting 10 

Culture — The Cane Fruits . . 18 

Culture — The Bush Fruits . . 25 

Culture — Strawberries ... 31 

Culture — Grapes 40 

Culture — Dwarf and Trained 

Fruits 42 

General Care — Pruning and 

Spraying 51 



THE ILLUSTRATIONS 

Cane Fruits Have a Decorative 

Value Frontispiece ■- 

FACING 
PAGE 

The Garden Made Attractive with 

Small Fruits ......... 2 i 

Blackberries . . . . . . . - 12 

Raspberries 18 

Currants and Gooseberries . . .26 

Strawberries 32 

Grapes 40 

Trained Dwarf Pear Tree . . .48 



Making a Garden of 
Small Fruits 

PLANNING THE FRUIT GARDEN 

EVERYBODY realizes the advantage 
of delicious fresh fruit, but few un- 
derstand that they may grow it even in 
a small garden. This book is to indicate 
that there may be a garden that produces 
fruit which is as beautiful as any flower 
garden and which has a changing attrac- 
tion up to the very edge of winter, when 
it presents you with its bountiful reward. 
Why not plant a garden of small fruits? 
The question of extent is not a serious 
one. Go over your ground carefully and 
make a little sketch indicating the shape 
and size of the space you have available 
for setting out fruit. As already sug- 
gested, corners, walls, house-sides and so 
forth may be taken advantage of for 
vines or trained fruits where space is 
limited. Indicate on your little sketch — 



2 Making a Garden of Small Fruits 

which bj no means must be a carefully 
drawn plan — the number of each of the 
various fruits — raspberries, blackberries, 
dewberries, currants, gooseberries, straw- 
berries, grapes and dwarf fruits, if any, 
you will want. The proportions will de- 
pend largely, of course, upon the family 
taste for these things. Do riot merely 
put them down by "the dozen" but count 
carefully how many of each you will re- 
quire when they are set up at proper dis- 
tances. The way not to plant a fruit 
garden is to order a dozen or so of this 
or the other thing all at one time or 
when the fancy takes you and to plant 
it wherever you "can find room for it" at 
the time. It will not take any longer 
to plan and be systematic about it in 
the first place, and the results will be a 
hundred per cent, better. 

After you have figured out about how 
many of each of the things you are going 
to want, you should go carefully over the 
varieties and decide which ones you want, 
keeping in mind all the time, not only good 
eating quality but also the season of ripen- 
ing ; as in each case, it is highly important 
that you should have the fruit over as long 



Planning the Fruit Garden 3 

a season as possible. With strawberries, 
you should pick out an extra early, a 
couple of mid-season sorts which ripen one 
after the other, and an extra late variety, 
and in addition to these a few of the newer 
fall fruiting sorts, which will give you a 
long-continued supply. The same care 
should be exercised in making a selection 
of the cane fruits, the tree fruits and the 
grapes. With currants and gooseberries, 
of course, the number of varieties is much 
more limited, but even here, care should be 
used in ordering, as the new varieties are 
great improvements over most of the old 
sorts. 

Of course, in deciding where the various 
things go, you should exercise your very 
best judgment in so placing them that they 
will interfere not at all, or as little as pos- 
sible, with the working and the cultivation 
of your vegetable garden, or with the gen- 
eral plan of the flower garden and the 
grounds. As already suggested, they may 
be planted so as to give a generally decora- 
tive effect to the grounds. 

One of the good points about growing 
fruits is that they will do well in any ordi- 
narily good soil, even in a soil in which it 



4 Making a Garden of Small Fruits 

would be very difficult to grow good vege- 
tables. One thing they all do demand, 
however, and that is thorough drainage. 
Wet feet and good fruit you will not find 
on the same bush, vine or tree. Where 
the ground available does vary a little in 
character — which is, however, not likely 
to be the case in the ordinary small home 
garden — some preference is to be made as 
to where the different things go, that is, 
in light soil or in soil that is a bit more 
heavy or clayey. These preferences are 
mentioned in the chapter on planting ; and 
if you are so fortunate as to have at your 
disposal soil that varies as to its make-up, 
you should give these preferences consid- 
eration when making out your plan. They 
are, however, not nearly so important in 
producing results as proper fertilization 
and culture. 

Having made up your mind what you 
want in the way of small fruits, and 
where to plant them, the next step is to 
get the best possible start by procuring 
the best plants you can get. It is impor- 
tant to have plants of good size. It is 
much more important to have them abso- 
lutely healthy and also true to name. 



Planning the Fruit Garden 5 

Furthermore, you want to get them at as 
reasonable a price as possible. From my 
own experience, and that of others I know 
personally, I feel confident in saying that 
you will get much better satisfaction by 
dealing direct with a reliable, well-estab- 
lished nursery house, doing a mail-order 
business, than by depending upon some 
itinerant agent with a portfolio full of elab- 
orate and gaily colored lithographs of the 
most wonderful fruits you ever heard 
about. 

It usually pays best, especially where 
one is setting out a limited number of 
plants, to use plants of the first size and 
quality. The difference in price on a 
dozen or two will not amount to a great 
deal, and results will be quicker and more 
certain. 

Most of the small fruits are very hardy 
and do well over a wide range of climate 
as well as of soil, and the standard varie- 
ties which I mention have given quite uni- 
versal satisfaction. If, however, you have 
tried any sorts which did not seem to do 
well, when properly cared for, or if 
you want to be absolutely certain of your 
way before you place your order, write 



6 Making a Garden of Small Fruits 

to your state experiment station or to your 
nurseryman and ask him if the varieties 
you have selected are all right for your lo- 
cality, or if they have any others they 
would suggest. This will involve very lit- 
tle trouble on your part, and give you the 
satisfaction of knowing that you are on 
the right track before you go ahead. 

While making out your order keep in 
mind what has already been said about the 
necessity of selecting varieties which will 
give a succession or continuity of crop 
over the longest possible season. The fol- 
lowing varieties of the various small fruits 
include most of the standard sorts which 
have become universal favorites and a 
number of the more up-to-date introduc- 
tions which seem to be making good. 

Raspberries. The red sorts are the 
most popular, but you should include at 
least one of the black sorts (black-caps) in 
your list. Of the former, the King (ex- 
tra early), Cuthbert, Reliance, Cardinal 
(quite new), and Columbian are all excel- 
lent. St. Regis and Ranere are two simi- 
lar splendid varieties of recent introduction 
especially valuable for the home garden as 
they are "ever-bearing," continuing to 
fruit, though not so heavily of course, 



Planning the Fruit Garden y 

throughout the summer after the regular 
spring crop. Palmer (very early), Gregg, 
Kansas, Cumberland, are good dark sorts, 
Golden Queen is the standard yellow. 

Blackberries. Good standard varieties 
are Early King, Early Harvest, Wilson 
Jr., Kittatinny, Snyder and Erie. Mer- 
serau is a splendid new early, and Rath- 
burn an extra fine main crop sort, but not 
so hardy as most of the others, doing best 
south of New York. 

Currants. The old favorite Red Dutch 
is one of the hardiest, and more im- 
mune to the borer than some of the newer 
sorts, but the latter, if looked after, will 
give much finer fruit. London Market, 
Fay's Prolific, and Prince Albert are all 
good sorts, but the newer Perfection is 
probably the best home-garden currant so 
far introduced. White Grape is the best 
white sort. Naples and Lee's Prolific are 
good blacks. 

Gooseberries. The native gooseberries 
are the hardiest. Of these Downing and 
Houghton's Seedling are the best. Indus- 
try is a fine English variety which does 
very well here. Champion and Golden 
Prolific are two other good ones. The 
Pearl is a fine pale green dessert sort. 



8 Making a Garden of Small Fruits 

Strawberries. Early Ozark, a splendid 
new sort, Alpha, and Climax are extra 
early: Glen Mary and Sample, second 
early: Nic. Ohmer, Wm. Belt, Cardinal, 
Brandywine, Marshall, medium: New 
York, Gandy, Leste Lovett, Fendall 
(new), and Commonwealth, late. 

To make the job easy for you, here is a 
suggested order, ready-made: 



HOME GARDEN ORDER FOR SM A.LL FRUITS. 
(An Abundance of Fruit for Years to Come for $10. 



Strawberry 

Raspberry.. 

Blackberry 
Dewberry . . 

Currants ... 



fl"xl" 
..i or 
U"x8" 



3x6 



5x7 



5x7 



{■ 



4-5 apart 



Gooseberry . .< 5-6 apart 



Grapes 



6 or more 
apart 



Climax, early 
Marshall, midseason 
Lester Lovett, late 
The King, red, early 
Cardinal, red, late 
Cuthbert, crimson 
Mumber, black 
Mercerau, early 
Erie, main 
Premo, early 
Lucretia . 
Perfection, red 
Lee's Prolific, black 
White Grape, white 
Downing, pale green 
Red Jacket, red 
Industry, red 
Green Mountain, Early 

white 
Moore's Early, black 
Campbell's Early 

(Concord) 
Delaware red 
Catawba, dusky red 
Pocklington, golden 



NUM- 
BER 
100 
100 
100 
6 
6 

e 

6 
6 




!> 



) 

COST 

$1.50 

1.00 

1.00 

.25 

.40 

.40 

.25 

.40 

.25 

.25 



.20 
.20 
.15 
.15 
.40 

.50 
.25 

.25 
.25 
.25 
.25 

$9.35 



Planning the Fruit Garden 9 

Grapes. Early black sorts, Campbell's 
Early, Moore's Early, and Worden. Con- 
cord is a fine old favorite. Wilder and 
Eaton are also good. Red sorts (early), 
Brighton (medium) ; Catawba (Salem) 
and Delaware and Ionia, both late, are all 
popular. Lindley is an extra large and 
sweet red which deserves to be much more 
widely known. The best of the early 
whites are Moore's Diamond and Green 
Mountain (Winchell). Niagara and Em- 
pire State are good late whites. 



PLANTING 

THE second half of the vitally impor- 
tant point of getting a good start is 
to do the planting properly. 

You can as a general thing depend upon 
your nurseryman to pack your plants so 
that they will reach you in good condition 
for setting out. The important thing for 
you to do is to see to it that your ground 
is in condition and awaiting their arrival 
before you find them actually on your 
hands. You should have things in such 
shape that you can set them out immedi- 
ately they reach you. 

It is, however, sometimes impossible to 
carry out such a program. In that 
case you should see that your plants upon 
arrival are protected from wind and sun, 
by putting them in a cool, dark place such 
as a shed or cellar. If they are put up 
in a box or tight bundle, open them so that 
the air can circulate freely about the leaves 
and stalks or stems, preventing any chance 
of molding or rot, but at the same time 

IO 



Planting 1 1 

see to it that the roots are kept covered 
with moss or bagging and kept moist. 
Trees or shrubs, if they must be kept on 
hand for some time before being set out, 
should be "heeled in" — planted in soil tem- 
porarily simply by digging a narrow 
trench as long as is required, and stand- 
ing them up in it, packed close together, 
at an angle of fort3'-five degrees or so, and 
filling in around the roots with earth. By 
this method they may be kept in good con- 
dition for a long time. They should, of 
course, be kept in as nearly a dormant 
state as possible and without making new 
roots. 

Where the plants, shrubs or dwarf trees 
are to be set directly into the vegetable 
garden, little or no preparation of the 
ground, other than it has already received, 
should be necessary. Where, however, 
they are to be set out along a fence near a 
house wall or in sod, the soil should be es- 
pecially prepared for them in advance. 

The first essential is proper drainage. 
If your ground has not naturally a sub- 
soil which will permit any surplus mois- 
ture either to drain off or percolate down 
through it, you must take some method of 



12 Making a Garden of Small Fruits 

correcting this fault before you plant. If 
the ground is simply low and wet, ditch- 
ing, or draining — either with stone or 
drain-tile, though the latter is much bet- 
ter — may be necessary. This work can 
be done at very little cost, for a small area, 
and will improve the ground not only for 
fruits but for any other purposes to which 
you may have occasion to put it. Where 
a hard impervious sub-soil is found, even 
though the surface may not stay wet and 
soggy after heavy rains, it should be 
broken up before planting. This can be 
done either with the pick-ax or with a 
small charge of low-grade agricultural dy- 
namite. Breaking up the hard sub-soil in 
this way not only lets any surplus water 
through, but permits the tree-roots to go 
down readily into the soil, instead of 
spreading out near the surface, and in- 
creases their range and capacity for re- 
sisting the drought. 

The soil in the "hole" for planting 
should be thoroughly dug over and pul- 
verized in a circle of two or three feet in 
diameter and at least a foot in depth. 
The soil, unless already in very excellent 
condition, should be enriched to some ex- 




Proper care in pruning is necessary to grow, 
such blackberries as these, but it does not 
involve rr.u:h work 



Planting 13 

tent before any planting is done. If ma- 
nure is to be employed for this purpose, 
use only that which is very old and well 
decomposed. Manure that is not thor- 
oughly rotted should by no means be util- 
ized for this purpose. Ground bone, 
which should be part at least what is 
known as "inch bone" (simply pure bone 
crushed or cracked very coarse so that 
many of the pieces are from a quarter of 
an inch to an inch long), is excellent to 
use for this purpose, as the plant-food in 
it will become gradually available for a 
number of years. A little potash, either 
in the form of muriate or sulphate of pot- 
ash, or in wood-ashes, should also be added. 
A few good handfuls of sulphate or muri- 
ate, or several shovelfuls of wood-ashes, to 
each hole, will be sufficient. It is well to 
use the potash even when the manure is 
employed instead of the bone. But whether 
manure or a chemical is used, it should be 
thoroughly forked in and mixed through 
the dirt in the hole, which should not be 
filled within three or four inches of the top 
until after this has been done. Then fill 
in level with the surrounding grass or soil. 
The object in keeping the richer soil be- 



14 Making a Garden of Small Fruits 

low the surface is to induce the roots to 
strike downward, rather than to spread 
around near the surface. 

Fruit bushes or trees of various sorts 
are usually sent out from the nursery just 
as they are dug from the fields. If you 
have everything ready to plant as soon as 
your stock arrives (as you should plan to 
have), it is well to state on your order that 
you wish the nurseryman to prune all stock 
back ready for 'planting. This will not 
only save you the trouble of doing it, and 
the possibility of doing it wrongly in case 
you lack experience, but make your trans- 
portation charges less. The reason it is 
not done as a usual thing is that nursery- 
men naturally want their stock, when re- 
ceived by the customer, to come up to the 
specifications for size, height, etc., given 
in the catalog, and it looks like bigger value 
for the money than it would if pruned 
back. Do not be loath to make this seem- 
ing sacrifice of stalk and branch. Plants 
so treated will, at the end of the first sea- 
son's growth, be far ahead of what they 
would have been without this pruning back. 

In digging up, packing, and transport- 
ing the plants, it will have been inevitable, 



Planting 15 

too, that some of the roots should have be- 
come broken and bruised. When you un- 
pack your stock you should look over the 
roots carefully, and cut off, with a sharp 
knife or pruning shears, back to good 
sound wood, any which may have become 
injured, or which are too long and scrag- 
gly to go readily into the hole when plant- 
ing. Under the cultural directions given 
for the several different types of small 
fruits, more definite directions for this 
pruning back are given. 

When setting out small fruits, as with 
transplanting of all kinds in fact, the 
point of great importance is to get them in 
firmly enough so that the earth will be 
packed compactly about the roots and hold 
them without motion in one position until 
a growth of new feeding rootlets has been 
made. They should be set down into the 
soil as deep or a little deeper than they 
had been growing in the nursery, as shown 
by the earth-mark on the stem, and the 
roots should be spread out carefully in as 
natural a position as possible, and not 
cramped into a small space or bent back 
up toward the surface at their extremities. 
Work the soil in around the roots with the 



1 6 Making a Garden of Small Fruits 

fingers, and press it down with the hands 
as tightly as possible until the bush or tree 
is held firmly in an upright position. 
Then it may be trod upon with the balls of 
the feet to make it still more firm. 

If it is very dry when setting out, water 
may be applied in the bottom of the hole. 
It should never be poured on top, after the 
planting is done, as in that case it evapo- 
rates quickly, and leaves the surface a hard 
baked crust, doing the plant little or no 
good, and possibly even injury. 

Be sure, no matter what you are setting 
out or how few of them there may be, to 
get all your rows in absolutely straight 
lines, and interspaces equal. This will not 
only greatly improve the looks of your 
fruit garden, but assist materially in tak- 
ing care of it. 

Most of the small fruits do best, espe- 
cially in latitudes north of Philadelphia, 
with spring planting. Strawberries are 
often set out in late July or August, but 
this is really a belated form of spring 
planting, as they are set only with the idea 
of having them become firmly established, 
with a good crown formed, before winter 
sets in. 



Planting 17 

As this planting is best done very early 
in the spring, however, while the stock is 
still dormant, or has just begun to make 
new growth, and as there always are a mul- 
titude of other things to attend to at this 
time, it is well to prepare the soil and have 
everything ready for them during the pre- 
ceding fall, so that they can be set out 
without any delay, when spring arrives. 

Tree fruits may be set out in either the 
fall or the spring, but they are, especially 
the dwarfed or grafted sorts, generally 
considered safer with spring planting. 
The chief danger with spring planting is 
injury from drought. This may be 
guarded against by proper planting, culti- 
vation of the surface soil, mulching with 
strawy manure, leaves, or other light litter 
such as grass clippings during the hottest 
weather, and if necessary an occasional 
thorough soaking with the hose in the late 
afternoon or evening. Irrigation of this 
sort is of course much more effective when 
used with a mulch to prevent evaporation 
during the day. 



CULTURE— THE CANE FRUITS 

THE soft-berried or cane fruits are 
all treated in much the same way. 
Any situation where they get the full sun, 
and the soil is well drained, will answer. 
It may be at the side of the vegetable gar- 
den, or a narrow strip along a fence. If 
there is not room otherwise, they may be 
trained against the fence. If there is any 
choice as to soil, use that in which there 
is considerable clay. 

The spot selected should be well enriched 
with old manure, and dug down to a depth 
of at least eight inches. The space needed 
can readily be decided, as the plants will 
require about four feet in the row and six 
between rows — some sorts taking a little 
more and some a little less space than this. 
Set them in the soil an inch or so deeper 
than they have been grown in the nursery, 
working the earth in carefully and firmly 
about the roots. At the time of planting, 
cut the canes back to six or eight inches. 
These plants will not bear fruits until the 
18 




With one of the new "ever-bearing" vari- 
eties, such as the St. Regis, raspberries may 
be enjoyed for a long season 



Culture — the Cane Fruits 19 

following year ; but if one wishes fruit the 
same year, it can be had by ordering ex- 
tra plants, and setting these between the 
plants set out for the permanent bed. 
These extras are cut back only a little, 
leaving them about two feet high. They 
will bear fruit the same year as planted, 
but are not likely to do much the following 
year, so it is best to pull them up after 
the season is over. As the plants cost 
but a few cents apiece, this is not such 
an expensive luxury as might at first ap- 
pear. 

After setting the plants out, do not neg- 
lect the bed, as success will depend very 
largely upon the thoroughness with which 
the surface soil is kept stirred to maintain 
the "dust mulch." At first it will be well 
to work the soil several inches deep, to 
loosen it thoroughly after the packing it 
gets while the plants are being set. After 
root growth starts, however, it should be 
loosened only on the surface, not more than 
two or three inches deep. In very hot sea- 
sons, a summer mulch of hay or spent ma- 
nure will help retain the soil moisture, but 
weeds must be kept out. 

There are three methods of giving the 



20 Making a Garden of Small Fruits 

plants support. The one most commonly 
used is to have a stout stake for each 
plant, to which the canes are tied up with 
some soft material — raffia or strips of old 
sheeting. The second way is to string a 
stout wire the length of the row and tie 
the plants to this. An improvement on 
this method is to string two wires, several 
inches apart, one on either side of the row. 
Another important matter is the prun- 
ing of the canes. The cane berries bear 
fruit on the growth of the season previous, 
and therefore it is necessary to cut out all 
old canes that have borne one crop. This 
should preferably be done just after the 
fruiting season, but is sometimes left until 
fall or spring. In the home garden, how- 
ever, there is no excuse for thus putting 
it off. The new growth each year must 
also be^cut out, as the plants send up more 
shoots than are desirable for best results. 
Cut out to the ground all but four or five 
of the new canes. The canes left, if they 
are to be self-supporting, as sometimes 
grown, should be cut back when three or 
four feet high. Where support is given, 
however, they are usually not cut back un- 
til the following spring. In the case of 



Culture — the Cane Fruits 21 

those varieties which have fruit on side 
shoots, as most of the "blackcaps" do, also 
cut back these side shoots one-third or 
one-half in the spring. 

It will thus be seen that in pruning 
plants of this class there are three things 
to keep in mind: (1) Cut out all canes 
that have fruited. (£) Cut out all but 
four or five of the new shoots. (3) Cut 
back both new canes and side shoots one- 
third to one-half. 

Winter protection is usually given in 
sections where the winters are severe — 
New York or north of it. The canes are 
laid down by bending over as flat as possi- 
ble, and covering the tips with earth. 
This is not done until just before severe 
freezing weather. The canes are some- 
times covered with rough litter; but bend- 
ing them down is in itself a great protec- 
tion, as they will not be so much exposed 
to wind and sun, and will be covered with 
snow when there is any. Another method 
is to cover the entire canes with soil. 
Whatever mulch is used, it should not be 
put on until the ground begins to freeze, 
and should be taken off before any growth 
starts in the spring. 



22 Making a Garden of Small Fruits 

Raspberries — Raspberries like best a 
clayey soil. It should be cool and moist, 
but never wet. The black and red types 
of raspberry are distinct in flavor, and 
both should be grown. The red varieties 
should be planted about three feet apart 
in the rows, with the rows five feet apart; 
but for the blackcaps the rows should be 
six feet apart, and in rich soil seven will 
be more comfortable. The blackcaps 
(and a few of the reds, like Cuthbert) 
throw out fruiting side branches, which 
should be cut back in spring one-half to 
two-thirds their length. 

Of raspberry enemies, the most trouble- 
some is the "orange rust." It attacks the 
blackberry also. No effective remedy has 
yet been found. Pull up and burn at once 
all affected plants. On newly set beds, 
our old friend the cut-worm may prove de- 
structive. Search for him in the dirt at 
the foot of the cut-off canes, and serve him 
wheat bran mash with Paris Green (tea- 
spoonful in a quart of water with the bran 
mixed in). In some sections the raspberry 
borer — the larva of a small, flattish, red- 
necked beetle — does considerable damage. 
He bores in the canes in summer, causing 



Culture — the Cane Fruits 23 

"galls" on the briars, and finally killing 
them. Cut and bum. 

Blackberries — If there is any variation 
in the soil picked out for the berry patch, 
give the driest place to the blackberries, 
as lack of moisture effects raspberries 
more seriously. Blackberries do not need 
the soil quite so thoroughly enriched as do 
raspberries, and a surplus of plant-food, 
especially of nitrogen, may keep the vines 
from ripening up thoroughly in the fall, 
which is essential for good crops. If 
growing too rankly, they should be 
pinched back in late August. When tying 
the vines up to support in the spring, cut 
back the main canes to four or five feet, 
and the laterals to not more than a foot 
and a half. 

The enemies of the blackberry are not 
often serious, if the plants are well cared 
for. The most dangerous is the rust or 
blight, for which there is no cure but care- 
fully pulling and burning the plants as 
fast as infested. Another is the black- 
berry-bush borer, whose presence is indi- 
cated by wilting, and a change in color in 
the canes which should at once be cut and 
burned. Another pest which has appeared 



24 Making a Garden of Small Fruits 

but recently is the bramble flea-louse, 
which resembles the green aphis, except 
that it is a brisk jumper like the flea-beetle 
of potato vines and turnips. The leaves 
of infested plants twist and curl up in 
summer, affording protection to the 
enemy, and do not drop off in the fall. 
Early on cold mornings, or in wet 
weather, when the insects are sluggish, 
cut out all shoots upon which any are to 
be found, collect them in a tight bottomed 
box, and burn. 

The dewberry is really a blackberry, 
that can be trained and requires the same 
culture. As the vines are naturally slen- 
der and trailing, in garden culture it must 
be supported. The canes may be staked 
or wired up, as with blackberries, or a 
wooden barrel-hoop, held by two stakes, 
makes a good support. The dewberry 
ripens ten days or more before the black- 
berry, and for that reason at least a few 
plants should be included in the berry 
patch. 



CULTURE—THE BUSH FRUITS 

THE bush fruits, the currant and the 
gooseberry, are very similar in their 
requirements of soil and culture. A deep 
rich moist soil — approaching a clayey loam 
— is the best. There is no danger of over- 
feeding them, although where manure is 
used it should be well rotted up. 

The long-suffering currant will stand 
probably more abuse than any plant in 
the home garden — and is frequently the 
most neglected. Although the currant is 
so hardy, no fruit will respond more 
quickly to good care. Plenty of room, 
plenty of air, plenty of moisture — secured 
when necessary by a mulch of hay or 
other material in hot, dry weather — are 
all essential to getting the best from the 
currant bush. 

Four or five feet each way is not too 
much space to give currants. The soil 
should be manured liberally, and well 
worked before planting. Do not think 
that you can dig out a little hole just big 
25 



26 Making a Garden of Small Fruits 

enough for the roots, leaving the rest of 
the ground unturned and unenriched, and 
get good results. Keep the soil between 
the bushes well cultivated. As the hot, 
dry season comes on, mulch the soil if you 
would be certain of a full-sized, full-fla- 
vored crop. Two bushes well cared for 
will yield more than a dozen half-neg- 
lected ones. The currant suffers from ex- 
cessive heat and dryness, but with proper 
attention a full crop should be secured 
every year. 

As with the other small fruits, a most 
important factor in growing currants is 
proper pruning. The most convenient 
and satisfactory way is to keep them in 
bush form. Set the plants singly, at the 
distance previously mentioned, and so cut 
all new growth, which is produced gener- 
ously by the currant, as to retain a uni- 
form bush shape, preferably somewhat 
open in the center. Another thing to 
keep in mind when pruning is that the 
fruit is borne on wood two or more years 
old, so all wood should be removed either 
when very small, or not until four or five 
years old. All that is allowed to grow one 
or two years and then removed, is just 



Culture — the Bush Fruits 27 

that much of the plant's energy wasted. 
Therefore, in pruning currants, take out 
(1) superfluous young growth; (2) old, 
hard wood (as new wood will produce 
better fruit) ; (3) all weak, broken, dead 
or diseased shoots; (4) during late sum- 
mer, keep the tips of the new growth 
pinched off, which will cause them to ripen 
up better, resulting in more fruit when 
they bear; (5) maintain a good bush form, 
go over the whole plant lightly in the fall, 
trimming the desired shape — but do not 
cut back more than one-third. 

Under some special circumstances, as 
where space is limited and they must be 
grown close against a wall, it may be ad- 
visable to train to one or two a few main 
stems. This, however, increases the dan- 
gers of loss from the currant borer. 

The black currant is entirely different 
from the red and white currants. It is 
used almost exclusively for culinary pur- 
poses, or preserving. The plants are much 
larger, and should be put five or six feet 
apart. Some of the fruit is borne on one- 
year old wood, so the new shoots should 
not be cut back. The old wood, also, 
bears as good fruit as does the new growth, 



28 Making a Garden of Small Fruits 

so there is no need to cut it out until the 
plant is getting crowded. As the wood 
is much heavier and stronger than that 
of the other currants, it is advisable grad- 
ually to develop the black currants into 
the tree form. 

The common green currant worm is the 
worst pest encountered in growing cur- 
rants. His appearance will be indicated 
by holes eaten in the lower leaves early 
in spring — generally before the plants 
bloom. Spray at once with Paris Green 
in water (1 lb. to 50 gals.) or with arse- 
nate of lead (2 lbs. to 50 gals, water). If 
a second lot appear after the fruit sets, 
dust with white hellebore. By the time 
the fruit ripens, this will probably have 
been washed off by the rains ; if not, wipe 
from the fruit. For the currant borer, 
cut out and burn every infested shoot. 
Examine the bushes carefully late in the 
fall ; those in which the borers are at work 
will usually have a wilted look, and be of 
a brownish color, readily distinguished. 

The Gooseberry — The gooseberry re- 
quires practically the same treatment as 
the currant received. It is even more im- 
portant that the coolest, airiest location 



Culture — the Bush Fruits 29 

available be given to it, and the most moist 
soil. Even a partially shaded location 
will serve, but in this case extra care must 
be used in guarding against that often 
fatal enemy of the gooseberry — the mildew. 
Summer mulching, to retain moisture, is, 
of course, of special benefit. 

In pruning the gooseberry, as with the 
black currant, it is best to cut out to a 
very few or even to a single stem. Keep 
the head open to allow the air to circulate 
freely and reach every twig and branch. 
The extent of pruning, besides being a 
precaution against the mildew, will also 
determine largely the size of the fruit; if 
berries of the largest size are wanted, 
prune out severely. All branches droop- 
ing to the ground, and all which cross or 
grow together, should be removed. 

The enemies of the gooseberry are the 
currant worm, borer and mildew. The 
first two are treated as already described. 
The gooseberry mildew is a dirty, whitish 
fungous growth covering both fruit and 
leaves. It is especially destructive of the 
foreign varieties, the cultivation of which, 
until the advent of the potassium sulphide 
spray, had in many localities been prac- 



30 Making a Garden of Small Fruits 

tically abandoned. For this spray, use 1 
oz. of potassium sulphide (liver of sul- 
phur) to % gals, of water, and mix just 
before using. Spray three or four times 
a month, from the opening of the blos- 
soms until the fruit is ripe. 



CULTURE— STRAWBERRIES 

ARE you one of the thousands who, 
while possessing at home a garden 
plot with a nice sunny exposure, still an- 
nually consent to pay fifteen to twenty- 
five cents a quart for half ripe or over 
ripe berries? Do you realize that straw- 
berries may be grown readily in any good 
sunny garden and that the twenty-five 
cents you pay for a box of extra early, 
extra bitter berries will actually buy 
twenty-five strawberry plants ; and that 
these plants with their runners set out and 
well cared for will produce easily half a 
quart each next season? But that is not 
the whole story. You can grow better 
berries than you can buy, because the 
quality is never perfect unless the berries 
are ripened on the vines and fresh 
gathered. 

The two great deterrents to home straw- 
berry growing are not any difficulties met 
in growing the plants ; they are, first, lack 
of definite information on the subject, and, 
31 



32 Making a Garden of Small Fruits 

secondly, the necessity of waiting until the 
following season for a crop. It is so hard 
to make any of our own plans reach be- 
yond the usual annual circle. 

With the price of layer plants of the 
best varieties so low, it will hardly pay to 
get plants of some unknown sort from a 
neighbor's bed, but getting the plants near 
at hand has one advantage ; they should 
be kept out of the soil but a few hours. 
However, if you have your bed ready, the 
plants from the seedsman or nurseryman 
will not suffer, because they will be (or 
should be) carefully packed to keep the 
roots moist. In either case be prepared 
to get the plants into the ground as soon 
as they come into your possession. 

It has been said that strawberries can 
be grown in any soil. It is true, that at 
least some varieties will do well in almost 
every soil, but good rich sandy loam, with 
a southern exposure, protected on the 
north, is the best if early berries are de- 
sired. A northern exposure is more suit- 
able for the late varieties. In either case, 
the situation should be open and airy. 
These are two requirements, deep soil and 
thorough draining, if the largest, finest 



Culture — Strawberries 33 

berries are wanted; both may be had at 
little expense for such a small area as will 
be required in the home garden. 

In addition, the soil must be thoroughly 
prepared. This is even more important 
with strawberries than with most garden 
crops. Unless the ground is in excellent 
condition, cross plow and sub-soil plow 
should be used, and then thoroughly re- 
fined and harrowed. 

Manure, too, is important. Old, fine, 
mixed yard manure will be the best thing 
to get, or a manure compost, well rotted 
up. If not enough manure can be got, 
supplement with chemical fertilizers — the 
best combination being ground bone, acid 
phosphate and muriate of potash in equal 
proportions and at the rate of five pounds 
per square rod. Whether manure or fer- 
tilizer is used, supplement with light dress- 
ings of nitrate of soda, (1) just after 
setting, (2) in August or September of 
each season's growth and (8) soon after 
the blossoms open in spring. 

The young plants, or "runners," for 
new beds are usually set out in the spring 
— April or first part of May — and on the 
whole this is more satisfactory than au- 



34 Making a Garden of Small Fruits 

tumn setting. For the pot-layered sys- 
tem described later, early autumn setting 
is necessary. The spring weather is more 
likely to be favorable to rapid new growth 
and the "layers" that have wintered over 
are all well hardened and ripened and in 
better shape to stand the disturbance in- 
cidental to transplanting. When setting 
out runners from one's own bed, so that 
the plants need be out of the soil only a 
short time, fall planting need not be dis- 
advantageous if a favorable day and time 
can be chosen. 

Before setting, the plants should be put 
in shape by removing all dead or broken 
and large leaves and trimming back the 
roots about one-half. This gives a nice 
stocky, studdy little plant that can be 
"set" nicely. If your plants have been 
shipped from a distance the roots may have 
been "puddled" or dipped in clay mud, to 
keep them moist. If so, rinse them off in 
water and trim before planting. The ac- 
tual operation of setting the plant in the 
soil is one of the most important in the 
whole culture of the strawberry. It is 
best to do this work on a cloudy day or 
late in the afternoon. If only a few rows 



Culture — Strawberries 35 

are being set, they may of course easily 
be watered and shaded. The soil should 
be so well prepared that it will not be 
necessary to use a dibble, as the roots 
should be spread out. Do not cover the 
crown. Set the roots in as deep as is 
necessary to cover all the roots, but not 
deeper. Set them in firm — if the soil is 
dry press into place with the balls of the 
feet, placed either side of the newly set 
plants. 

There are two types of layers: those 
rooted automatically in the soil of the 
bed, and pot-layers. These latter are not 
by sinking two or three inch pots into the 
soil and filling level and holding a root- 
ing runner in place over each with a small 
stone, so that the roots will be confined 
within the pot. These, of course, stand 
transplanting more readily than the ordi- 
nary layers, especially in summer or au- 
tumn. 

There are two ways of setting the 
plants suited to the home garden, where 
the best in quality as well as in yield should 
always be aimed at. The first is the hill 
system. The plants are set in rows about 
a foot apart. The rows may be single, or 



36 Making a Garden of Small Fruits 

four or five together in a bed, the rows a 
foot apart, with a two foot alley between 
the beds. In this case all runners are 
pinched off as soon as they start and the 
ground hoed between the hills. Where 
only a few plants are grown and the soil 
is rich and may be watered, this method 
will probably give the best satisfaction. 
The second is the "matted row" system. 
The plants are set twelve inches apart in 
rows about three feet apart. As the run- 
ners start, they are rooted to a distance of 
six or eight inches on each side of the row 
and then turned along it. This gives a 
neat, narrow row, twelve to sixteen inches 
wide. These new plants are separated 
from the parent ones as soon as well es- 
tablished, and all other runners from both 
sets of plants kept pinched off. 

There are also two systems of growing 
the berries as well as two of setting the 
plants; the annual, by which only one 
crop of berries is taken before the plants 
are discarded, and the biennial. The lat- 
ter may be used with either the hill or the 
matted row system, but in either case the 
first crop will be the best if not the biggest, 
and the beds must be kept clean. For 



Culture — Strawberries 37 

the annual system, pot-layered plants and 
the hill s} r stem of growing are used and 
maximum quality and quantity of crop at- 
tained. This system is as follows: as 
soon as the plants are through fruiting or 
by setting aside for propagation purposes 
a few plants, not permitted to fruit, get 
new plants by the pot-layering method. 
As soon as possible after the middle of 
July, set these in the new bed, which must 
be rich and thoroughly prepared and give 
them clean, frequent cultivation until the 
fall. Pinch off all runners as fast as they 
appear. The idea is to make a strong 
quick growth and concentrate it all in the 
newly set crowns, thus assuring a full crop 
of the very best fruit for the following 
spring. The advantages of this system 
are, that there is a full crop every year, 
instead of only two in three years. After 
the old bed is plowed down for a late vege- 
table crop, there is time for an early one, 
lettuce, peas, beets, etc., before the new 
bed is set. It also means the very best 
quality and size of fruit. 

Whatever methods of planting and 
growing are used, the beds must be kept 
clean and frequently cultivated. A wheel 



38 Making a Garden of Small Fruits 

hoe and a small "onion" hoe for use be- 
tween the plants are the handiest tools to 
use. For a month or two after setting the 
plants — work the ground rather deeply, 
but as the new roots begin to form and 
spread, restrict it to an inch or two in 
depth. It is particularly important to 
maintain the soil mulch in dry weather by 
frequent stirring of the soil. 

The purpose of mulching the strawberry 
bed is fivefold. It gives winter protec- 
tion ; holds the plants from starting pre- 
maturely in the spring; keeps the berries 
clean ; retains the soil moisture, and keeps 
the weeds down. So it pays to do it well. 
Salt or meadow hay is the ideal material 
to use, but if it cannot be had, other cheap 
hay, straw or even leaves will answer. 
Cover both beds and walls to a depth of 
two or three inches, before severe frosts. 
Hold in place, if necessary, with boards 
or plank. Leave on until growth starts 
in the spring and then pull aside from each 
plant to let the leaves and flower stalks 
up through. Keep as evenly and com- 
pactly about the plants as possible, to 
mulch the soil and to protect the fruit. 

The strawberry is comparatively free 



I 



Culture — Strawberries 



39 



from serious injury by disease, "rust" or 
blighting of the leaves being the most 
troublesome. Where clean culture is 
given, and the beds kept down only one or 
two years at a time, it is most unlikely to 
prove troublesome. Sometimes also they 
are attacked by mildew. Both troubles 
are controlled by spraying with Bordeaux. 
Make first application soon after plants 
are set and three or four times before fall, 
and just before blossoming, following ten 
days later, in the spring. 

Among the insect enemies, the White 
Grub (larva of the June bug) is the most 
troublesome. Dig out and destroy. Do 
not follow grass or sod directly with straw- 
berries. The strawberrry worm, a small 
green caterpillar, sometimes proves an- 
noying, when in large quantities. Dust 
the foliage, while moist, with finely sifted 
ashes or with lime. If cut-worms cause 
any trouble, dig up and destroy and catch 
with sweetened bran mash sprayed with 
Paris Green. 



CTJLTURE-~GRAPES 

THERE may be some excuse for your 
not growing your own fruit, if 
your space is limited, but you cannot use 
this excuse about grapes. The classical 
fig-tree may not be adapted to your par- 
ticular climate but by all means have your 
own vine : — if there is not room for a trel- 
lis in the garden, train it against the wall 
of the house, woodshed or garage. 

The grape is not particular as to soil, 
as long as it is well drained. I have seen 
them thriving on soil so gravelly that it 
would seem nothing could grow there. 
If it can be had, a soil rather of clay com- 
position will be best. The exposure should 
be to the sun, and if possible an open, airy 
one. If the soil is not already in good 
condition, and well enriched, prepare it 
thoroughly in both these respects before 
you plant. Stable manure will be good to 
use, provided it is well rotted up, but a 
liberal dressing of wood ashes should be 
added to supply potash, as it is necessary 
40 




The most essential factors in growing good 
grapes are proper pruning and plenty of 
potash 



Culture — Grapes 41 

to have the wood thoroughly ripen and 
harden by fall, for upon this depends the 
crop of the following year. If using 
chemicals, take equal parts of bone, acid 
phosphate and muriate of potash, with a 
light top dressing of nitrate of soda, early 
in the spring free of undesired sprouts as 
directed under pruning. Secondly, spray 
with Bordeaux mixture before every rain, 
if possible, from the time the vine leaves 
come out until about the middle of July. 
After that use ammoniacal copper carbon- 
ate. Take special pains to cover every 
part of the new growth upon which the 
fruit is borne. 

Where only a few vines are grown, the 
bunches are often protected by covering 
with manila bags, put on when the grapes 
are well formed on the bunches. The top 
of the bag is slit down three or four inches 
on sides and ends — four cuts — at the top, 
slipped over the bunch, and the flaps 
formed by the cuts folded over the canes 
and pruned below the canes. 



DWARF AND TRAINED FRUITS 

SOME enthusiasts believe that the 
dwarf fruit-trees will eventually re- 
place the standard form altogether. I 
believe this to be an altogether exagger- 
ated view, but nevertheless under certain 
conditions they are very desirable, and cer- 
tainly a great boon to the man with a small 
place. 

The great advantage of dwarf trees is 
the fact that they can be grown where 
there would not be room for standard types. 
Standard trees, for instance, are set 
thirty-five to forty feet apart. Doucin 
stock apples can be set within fifteen to 
twenty feet of each other, and Paradise 
stock apples as close as ten or even eight 
feet. Not only can three to five small trees 
be set where one or two standards would 
occupy the same amount of room, but they 
can, if conditions require it, be trained to 
a trellis along the boundary of the 
grounds, so that their growth is almost en- 
42 



Dwarf and Trained Fruits 43 

tirely lateral. It often happens, too, that 
while there might be enough ground room 
for a standard tree, the height would be 
objectionable. And here again, of course, 
the dwarf trees furnish a practical solu- 
tion to the problem. 

Another point in their favor which is 
of almost equal importance to the man who 
desires to grow his own fruit on a small 
scale, is the fact that these small trees are 
so easily cared for and so efficiently at- 
tended to in the matter of spraying, prun- 
ing, thinning the fruit, etc. With no 
power except his two arms, he can care 
for his dwarf trees quite as thoroughly as 
the commercial orchardist can tend his 
acres, with a power spray-pump and all 
the other requisite apparatus. 

It must be remembered, however, that 
the dwarf fruits need exceptionally high 
culture. The ground must be kept in the 
best of condition and they must be thor- 
oughly looked after, especially if they are 
to be trained to a trellis or a wall. If you 
are willing to undertake this extra work, 
you will be well rewarded for it ; but unless 
you are, you had not better attempt to 
grow them. 



44 Making a Garden of Small Fruits 

The fact is, that the dwarf fruit tree 
offers a solution and a very advantageous 
solution to those who would otherwise go 
without fruit of their own at all. Its 
stronghold will be the suburban garden 
and the grounds of the small place; there 
the amateur and the enthusiast will be 
glad to give them all the attention which 
the j require, in return for apples, pears 
and peaches in variety and of the first 
quality, which they will begin to yield him, 
not only after several years of fruitless 
labor, but almost immediately. 

Unless the trees are to be planted in a 
garden soil already rich, holes should be 
dug out to a considerable size and old, very 
thoroughly-rotted manure mixed through 
the soil before it is put back into them. 
If the trees are to be set in a row along a 
wall or a trellis, it will be better, instead 
of making individual holes, to prepare a 
trench or broad, deep furrow in the same 
way. Where the trees are to be grown 
against the wall two things must be 
avoided — although in Europe they do not 
have to pay attention to them because of 
the difference in climate. Do not plant 
them against the wall, but a foot or so 



Dwarf and Trained Fruits 45 

from it and trained on a trellis, for in our 
hot summer sunshine the wall surface be- 
comes so heated that it might be injurious 
to the branches trained against it and alio 
training the limbs a few inches away from 
the wall gives more opportunity for a free 
circulation of air and the proper applica- 
tion of sprays, etc., to all parts of the 
branches. If possible, don't train along a 
wall facing south, as in such a location the 
trees are pretty sure to start into bud pre- 
maturely in the spring and be injured by 
late frost. Where an exceptionally warm 
and sheltered location of this sort cannot 
be avoided it will necessary to counter- 
act the effect by sufficient mulching. I 
have a friend who has done this success- 
fully by giving a big mulching of leaves 
and corn stalks around the base of the 
trees after the ground has become thor- 
oughly frozen in winter and by shading 
the trees themselves from the warm early 
spring sun by pine boughs woven into a 
temporary rough wire trellis. This mulch 
is removed in the spring to allow thorough 
cultivation, but again spread on toward 
the end of June to conserve the moisture 
during the hot dry, mid-summer weeks. 



46 Making a Garden of Small Fruits 

The trees should be so planted and ar- 
ranged, especially in a garden where the 
horse and cultivator are used, as to al- 
low continuous cultivation in one direc- 
tion. That is, they should fit in with the 
rows of asparagus, small fruits, strawberry 
beds, etc., of a more or less permanent 
character, in order to make their cultiva- 
tion as convenient as possible. 

The amount of space available and other 
local conditions will determine whether 
you want to grow the trees in their reg- 
ular form or train them near a wall or 
upon a trellis. In the latter case, the 
growth is induced to take a lateral form, 
as far as possible. Even with dwarfs the 
results will depend very largely upon the 
thoroughness with winch the pruning is 
done, especially in the early stages of 
growth. To induce the pyramidal form of 
growth, which is usually the best for dwarf 
trees, it is necessary to cut back the main 
shoots or "leaders" quite low down, thus 
inducing the more vigorous growth of the 
side branches, and leaving the tree with an 
open center. At the time of planting they 
should be shortened back about one-third 
in the usual way, and as soon as they be- 



Dwarf and Trained Fruits 47 

come established the centers should be cut 
back to a height of from ten to twenty 
inches. If vigorous growth is made, these 
side branches should be headed in, leaving 
four or five shoots on each.. These will, 
of course, tend to an upright position in 
making their growth. The following 
spring these shoots should be cut back 
severely — one-half will not be too much 
if they have made a vigorous growth — 
and in case they should be too thick re- 
move some of the side branches from 
which they sprout. This severe pruning 
should be continued for three or four 
years, and the shoots should be gone over 
annually, early in the summer. All 
branches that crowd or cross should be 
cut out, and all those that seem to be mak- 
ing too vigorous growth should be headed 
back in order that the tree may be kept 
symmetrical. For best results in the fruit 
there should be free access of air and sun- 
light to all parts of the tree. Each 
spring, the annual growth of the year be- 
fore should be cut back a third or more, 
as may be required to keep the trees in 
shape as small as desired. 

Where the trees are to be trained upon 



48 Making a Garden of Small Fruits 

the trellis, a somewhat different system 
has to be used. In the first place they 
should be planted almost directly under 
it, that is, so that the main trunk will grow 
close to the wires and not several inches 
away. After planting, when growth 
starts, the main trunk should be cut off a 
few inches above the first wire and three 
buds allowed to develop. One of these is 
trained along the wire on either side of 
the trunk and the third encouraged to 
make an upright growth as far as the next 
wire, where the same process is used; that 
is, three buds are left here, two of which 
are trained in either direction on the 
second wire, and the third bud, which 
should preferably be on the opposite side 
of the trunk from one below it, up to 
the third wire, etc. The shoots which 
start from the lateral branches should be 
kept cut back to four or five inches, sav- 
ing only one out of every two or three 
so they will not be too close together. 
Every spring, as soon as the buds are well 
started, all those which are not desired 
should be rubbed off before they make 
any considerable growth, as this is not 
only very much easier but also saves the 



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Dwarf and Trained Fruits 49 

strength of the tree for the growth which 
is retained. 

As regards the general care of dwarf 
fruit trees, they are not very different from 
the standards except that in order to be at 
all successful they must be given excellent 
care in every way and that it is generally 
necessary to thin the fruits ; an operation 
which as far as standard trees are con- 
cerned does produce better results, but 
which is not usually attempted on account 
of the difficulty of doing it thoroughly. 
With the dwarf trees, however, it is not 
only necessary, as they have the habit of 
setting two or three times the fruit which 
they have strength to develop — but they 
are much more easily thinned, as most of 
the fruit spurs may be reached from the 
ground or at the worst from a step-ladder. 
The thinning may be accomplished by re- 
moving part of the fruit spurs, or a half 
or more of the fruits themselves after they 
have set and made some growth, which 
will be before the first of August. 

Not only should the soil be made rich 
before the trees are set out, but they will 
need yearly attention in the matter of 
fertilization thereafter. As with standard 



^o Making a Garden of Small Fruits 

fruits, green manuring with clover or 
some leguminous crop, especially during 
the latter part of the season, will be 
beneficial, and the soil should not be al- 
lowed to lack in potash. When there does 
not seem to be a rapid healthy growth in 
the spring a light application of nitrate of 
soda will usually be found of great service. 
Above all things the spraying must not be 
neglected, and where it is so easily ac- 
complished, there is absolutely no reason 
for doing so, especially with efficient ready 
prepared sprays of various sorts which 
are now to be had from many sources. 
Before using any of these, however, I 
would strongly advise the fruit grower to 
get the report of his experiment station 
upon spraying and sprays in order that he 
may see for himself from actual and care- 
fully tried experiments what preparations 
are likely to give the best results. The 
percentages of efficiency obtained from the 
various preparations are sure to prove in- 
teresting and profitable. 



GENERAL CARE— PRUNING AND 
SPRAYING 

NO matter how good stock you get, nor 
how thoroughly you have the ground 
prepared and fertilized, you cannot ex- 
pect to have satisfactory results unless you 
are willing to keep careful watch over your 
various undertakings in the way of small 
fruit growing. The work is neither very 
hard nor overwhelming, but a constant 
vigilance must be maintained. If, for in- 
stance, you are keeping your eyes open, 
and spot the first batch of currant worms 
as soon as they hatch out, it will be the 
work of ten or fifteen minutes, perhaps, 
to apply Paris Green or hellebore enough 
to put them eternally out of business. 
But if you plan to fix up your bushes in 
the spring, and then not go near them 
again until the fruit is ready to pick, you 
will find yourself to have been cultivating 
only a fine crop of disappointments. 
Make yourself familiar enough with the 
51 



52 Making a Garden of Small Fruits 

several chapters on culture and the spray- 
ing table in this chapter, so that you will 
know when to expect the various dis- 
eases or insects which are likely to cause 
you trouble and be on the watch for them. 
When any sort of trouble does make its 
appearance, be ready to begin the fight 
against it at once ; a few days' delay may 
be fatal. Whatever spraying materials 
you are likely to require should be kept on 
hand ready to use — arsenate of lead, 
Bordeaux-mixture, lime-sulphur solution, 
Paris Green and hellebore may be had in 
small amounts and in a form convenient 
to keep and use, and the equipment of the 
anti-insect armory need not be at all ex- 
pensive. Along with the various sprays 
and poisons the equipment should include 
a modern compressed-air hand sprayer, 
which will cost from four to seven dollars 
according to the type and the attach- 
ments. But you will have use for it prac- 
tically all the year around, not only for 
your small fruits but for the vegetable 
garden, the flower garden, the hen-house 
and so forth, and you should not attempt 
to get along without one. A machine 
made of brass throughout will cost a lit- 



Pruning and Spraying 53 

tie more, but will outlast three of the 
others, as some of the sprays are very cor- 
rosive when brought in contact with iron 
or tin. In using your sprays especially 
preventative ones, which have to be ap- 
plied before the insects or diseases which 
are to be fought have actually put in an 
appearance, be sure to have the job done 
on time. Furthermore, be sure to do it 
thoroughly — every leaf, branch and por- 
tion of the stem should be entirely coated. 
If you cannot do this with one applica- 
tion, make two. 

From the frequent mention which has 
been made of pruning in the preceding 
chapters, you have probably realized by 
this time that it constitutes a very impor- 
tant part of successful fruit culture. 

The best time for pruning is usually in 
the autumn, or in the spring before new 
growth starts to any extent. Prune first 
of all to keep the plant, bush or tree in 
the shape or form required. Then any 
canes, limbs or branches which show signs 
of disease, such as black-rot or galls, or 
which have become broken or badly bruised, 
should be cut back to firm, sound wood; 
also any that cross or rub each other. 



54 Making a Garden of Small Fruits 

Small and dwarf fruit trees, if grown in 
the open, should be developed into what is 
termed the "vase" or open-headed form, 
by cutting back the main "leader" when 
planting, and later the more central 
branches, so as to keep them low, and in- 
duce lateral growth as much as possible. 

All cuts should be made clean and 
smooth, and close up to the trunk or limb 
from which the branch is being severed. 
When a limb of any size (two inches or 
more in diameter) is removed the wound 
should be painted over with coal-tar or a 
heavy lead paint. 

Aim always to keep the small fruits in 
good condition, well cultivated, well fed, 
and they will reward you generously with 
an abundance of such berries and fruit as 
you would not be without for many times 
the number of hours and dollars you will 
find it necessary to spend on them. 



Pruning and Spraying 



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